Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Planning a Yard Sale Venture

Warm weather brings inside us a bug that itches until we've cleaned out our homes and once more fine satisfying relief. For many of us the old stuff we no longer need, use, or want is tossed aside to be either donated, given away, or sold on various venues such as online auction or yard sales.

If you are considering having a yard sale this summer, than here are some recommendations to plan and organize your yard sale event.

1. Pick a date for your yard sale, and a alternate date for possible rain out.
2. Choose an empty space, such as a garage or basement, to start piling your yard sale items in advance.
3. Give yourself plenty of time to sort through stuff, go through every room of the house, and find items for sell. But, not too much time that you are pulling things back out of the pile.
4. Mark items for sale by stickers or by making signs and attaching to tables. If you have a lot of clothes you may just want to make a sign saying "clothes $1.00 each" or something similar.
5. Don't forget to advertise, unless you live on a heavily traffic area, nobody will find you and your yard sale will be left without any customers. Make sure to put an ad in the local newspaper, create signs and hang at cross sections of streets with arrows pointing towards your location, and spread the news by word of mouth - tell all your friends, your church group, and ask them to tell their friends.
6. Try to lay out things on tables or hang up for the view of people going down the road past your location. Often, people will stop at a yard sale because they noticed something of interest as they were driving down the street. If you don' t have a lot of tables, ask to borrow from a friend, make your own with your significant other's saw horses and boards, or use blankets spread on the lawn.
7. Post a large sign in your yard announcing "Yard Sale Today" and even the time you plan on conducting the sale. Sometime having a lot of stuff laying out in your front yard or an open garage door doesn't always signal to people your selling it - they might just think you have a lot of junk.
8. Prices are always negotiable at a yard sale. If you have a particular item you wish to get a minimum price, mark it slightly higher in value to give your buyer room to negotiate, then they will walk away feeling like they got a good bargain. Your goal is to sell as much as your stuff you've laid out as possible, the more you sell is the less you have to drag back inside the house.
9. Keep sufficient change (money) available such as quarters and dollars. You don't want to run short and have to run to the bank in the middle of your sale, or leave your buyer hanging due to a shortage of cash flow.
10. Send your children off to Grandma's house for the day. This is especially helpful if you are selling some toys that they never play with anymore, but once they see them will decide they need them back.
11. Take off sales stickers, call your local Salvation Army, Goodwill, or Rescue Workers and schedule pick up or drop off of your unsold items. You can deduct the unsold items later on your taxes.
12. Before the sale begins, make yourself a goal, such as that household item you have always wanted and commit towards putting your yard sale profits towards that item. Later, you will have gotten something for getting rid of everything and feel good about it.
13. Have fun, invite a friend over to sit with you or bring a few items over they need to sell too.
14. Inform your neighbors of your intentions of having a yard sale, as they too may decide to have one the same day and make your street more appealing to people out seeking yard sales.
15. Don't get stressed or fret, ask for help if you feel overwhelmed with getting everything set up and running for the day.

When you plan your yard sale ahead, organize your items, and relax and have fun with what your doing it makes having a yard sale so much more enjoyable and fun.

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